FEMA Seeks Applicants for IPAWS Subcommittee

WASHINGTON—Think you have ideas to make the nation’s alerting system better? Here’s your chance.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has put out call for applicants who wish to serve on a new Integrated Public Alert and Warning System subcommittee to the National Advisory Council.

This subcommittee, as mandated by the IPAWS Modernization Act of 2015, will develop and submit recommendations on improving the IPAWS system to the NAC. Among things it is expected to consider are common alerting and warning protocol, standards, terminology and operating procedures for a national public alert warning system.

IPAWS is a way for federal, state, local, tribal and territorial alerting authorities to alert and warn the public about emergencies using the familiar Emergency Alert System, the newer system of Wireless Emergency Alerts, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio.

The IPAWS subcommittee is expected to be made up of officials from FEMA, the FCC, Homeland Security, the NOAA, the Department of Commerce and the National Council on Disability. Members will be selected from the following disciplines: Local, state and tribal government officials; emergency managers and first responders; vendors, developers and manufacturers of communications systems; broadcasting, cable or satellite industry officials; national organizations for the disabled, elderly, or limited English-speakers; and consumer privacy advocates.

The subcommittee is expected to meet four times a year, twice in person and twice via webinar.

Interested applicants can submit a résumé to the Office of the National Advisory Council by email, mail or even fax. Applications will be accepted until Oct. 6, with subcommittee appoint terms beginning in 2017; they will run until the termination of the IPAWS subcommittee in April 2019.

To ensure the nation continues to adopt the best standards and operating procedures when it comes to emergency alerting, the Federal Emergency Management Agency recently announced the names of 31 individuals that will be serving on the IPAWS subcommittee, which is part of FEMA’s National Advisory Council.

Before a regional test of IPAWS/EAS on June 9, the IPAWS Program Office of the Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced it will host three webinars to help the nine participating states to prepare.

The first national test of the emergency alert system in five years—and the first ever using the IPAWS infrastructure as an overlay on EAS—has been deemed a success based on initial feedback from the field.

This test will use the National Periodic Test event code and the National location code, 000000. FCC rules becoming effective on July 30, 2016 require that all EAS Participants immediately relay this test.